Tactile response teaching system

ABSTRACT

A teaching system for supplying visual and audible teaching information to a student in a teaching sequence determined by the tactile response of the student to the audible information, comprising a machine actuable to sequentially feed a sequence of cards from a supply station to a viewing station and then back to the supply station. The cards bear printed visible choice fields on one side, and, on the opposite side, printed circuits and recorded audible sound tracks. There is a platen on the machine adapted to cooperate with printed circuits on a card in viewing position. Interposed between the card and the platen is a compressible mask operable by a student&#39;&#39;s finger touching a choice point on the choice field to deform and permit a connection between a selected choice point on the card and the platen. There is programmable apparatus in the machine for reproducing audible tracks on a card in viewing position in a sequence determined by a program established by the printed circuits on the card in position.

United States Patent Sims, Jr. et al.

[451 Nov, 28, 1972 l 54] TACTILE RESPONSE TEACHING SYSTEM [72]Inventors: John C. Sims, Jr., Sudbury; Lloyd D. Brace, Jr., Concord,both of Mass.

[73] Assignee: Information Transfer Corporation,

Wellesley,

221 Filed: April 7, 1969 [21] Appl. No.: 813,930

[52] 11.8. C1. ..35/9 R, 35/35 C [51] Int. Cl. ..G09b 7/04 [58] Field ofSearch ..35/9, 35.3, 8 A

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,371,933 3/1968 Weitzner..35/8 A UX 3,487,558 1/1970 Golden et al ..35/9 R 3,516,176 6/1970Cleary et al ..35/9 R 3,522,664 8/1970 Lambright et al ..35/8 R3,106,027 10/1963 Thelen ..35/9

Primary Examiner-Wm. H. Grieb [57] ABSTRACT A teaching systemv forsupplying visual and audible teaching information to a student in ateaching sequence determined by the tactile response of the student tothe audible information, comprising a machine actuable to sequentiallyfeed a sequence of cards from a supply station to a viewing station andthen back to the supply station. The cards bear printed visible choicefields on one side, and, on the opposite side, printed circuits andrecorded audible sound tracks. There is a platen on the machine adaptedto cooperate with printed circuits on a card in viewing position.lnterposed between the card and the platen is a compressible maskoperable by a students finger touching a choice point on the choicefield to deform and permit a connection between a selected choice pointon the card and the platen. There is programmable apparatus in themachine for reproducing audible tracks on a card in viewing position ina sequence determined by a program established by the printed circuitson the card in position.

15 Claim, 11 DrawingFigures P'A'TENTEnNmmQn 3.704.337 SHEEI1UF6 wwmvm rI U u Under I Ben Bud Ted FIG. 3 g INVENTORS JOHN C. SIMS JR; [hug 1 {aLLOYD v D. BRACE JR.

ATTORNEYS PATENIED um 28 1912 3 7 04 337 SHEET 3 0r 6' I :0 l 1 i :0 Q I00 N i n m a I 1A 0 o Ll.

co v 2 co m r 1 N F F\ r I V-\ INVENTO OHN C. SIMS J5 9 BY LLOYD D.BRACE JR.

. ATTORNEYS PATENTEDuuvza I972 snmuure s w m .m M E R C O WSM T mMB Tv", S b

D m. 9 mm mm mm JL mm s) r um? 0mm Y WM Q A I ow :3 3 mv mm. B

@ 5 o Q ow PATENTEDNUV 28 I972 SHEET 5 OF m w m JOHN C. SIMS JR. BYLLOYD D BRACE JR.

FIG. IO

ATTORNEYS PATENTEDnovze 1912 SHEET 6 OF 6 TO AUDIO AMP LFROM KI E L I IKla HEADI FROM K3 K a 3a HEAD3 f m H FROM K5 50M K6 K 6o MAIN DRIVE v QMOTOR FROM K7 K7 K70 MI W om E. =\W|TCH"5V 6042 ON "FROM K9 i a Q/PLATEN'MOTOR 6O L|GH 9 FRoM K8 INVENTORS JOHN c. SIMS JR. FIG. ll BY LLOYD 0.BRACE JR.

ATTORNEYS TACTILE RESPONSE TEACHING SYSTEM BACKGROUND OFTl-IE INVENTIONOur invention relates to teaching machines, and particularly to a novelteaching system in which the stimulusresponse pattern is greatlysimplified.

Many forms of visual, audible and audio-visual devices have beendeveloped in an attempt to reduce the need for personal supervision byan instructor in the teaching process. One form of apparatus that hasbeen developed to facilitate the instruction of a student with a minimumof supervision is shown and described in US. Pat. 3,521,381 issued July2l, 1970, entitled Teaching Machine And Information Card Therefor,assigned to the assignee of our application. That apparatus comprises ateaching machine for use with a group of teaching cards. Each of thecards includes a first area bearing viewable information, a second areabearing reproducible audio tracks, and a third area bearing printedcontrol circuit information. A stack of such cards is placed on themachine, and they are sequentially fed into a position in which thestudent can view the information on the card. The control information oneach card completes a control circuit in the machine that is uniquelyrelated to the viewable and reproducible information on that card. Themachine includes plural switches adapted to be selectively activated bya magnetic pointer manipulated by the student, for reproducingappropriate audio tracks on the card being viewed, and for controllingthe subsequent feeding of a further card into viewing position, asdetermined by the control information on the card being viewed and uponthe response of the student to the audible instructions on the card. Inoperation the audio circuit associated with the machine can bearrangedto initially play an audible instruction requesting the student to makea response with respect to this audible instruction and a visual area onthe card. For example, the student may be asked with reference tospecific visual patterns on the card to select one having a specificcharacteristic. This selection is done by the student using a magneticpointer and placing the pointer on or near the visual selected area,thereby activating the magnetically controlled switch. If the responseis correct, the machine may then play a second audio track, which mightbe an instruction with respect to further areas on the card. If theresponse is incorrect the same audio track may be recycled to repeat theinstructions to the student.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Broadly speaking, the present inventionemploys a teaching machine of the general description disclosed in theabove cited copending application, in that it comprises means forsequentially moving teaching cards to a viewing position, means forreproducing audible information recorded on a card in the viewingposition, and a set of control circuits for performing the operationsnecessary to move each card into and out of position and to selectivelyreproduce'one of the several audio tracks recorded on the card. Theteaching cards provided are generally similar to those described in thecited application, in that they include visible teaching areas, recordedaudio information, and printed control circuits. The machine and cardsof the present invention are, however, so formed that the studentsresponse to the instruction given by the machine is accomplished by histouching that portion of the visual area which he selects as the correctresponse. The machine and the cards are so formed, that when the card isin the operating position, a student touching the appropriate areacloses a switch by pressure contact, a portion of the switching being aconductive area on the reverse side of the card itself and the printedcircuit on the card together with the circuit within the machine thenproduces continuation of the program by the machine, dependent upon thecorrectness of the student response. With this arrangement no wands ormagnetic switches are required and the student response is suitable forstudents of a wide variety of ages and under a wide variety ofconditions. Since the programming function is carried more completelyand in a more directly related way on the card, the correlation inpreparing the teaching card materials, with the circuitry and the visualmaterials is considerably simplified.

Basically, each teaching card comprises on one side one or more choicefields visibly marked into separate choice regions, each of which isdisctinctively printed with a picture, word or other teaching message.Audible tracks on the card are actuable to direct the students attentionto a choice field and to direct a response which, if correct, willresult in touching one choice region, or if incorrect will result in thetouching of another choice region in the choice field. On the other sideof the card, and corresponding in position to the choice regions, areone or more printed conductive elements that are directly connected to aset of printed circuits on the card. These printed circuits cooperatewith a printed circuit platen and a set of point contacts or brushes onthe machine to determine the program followed by the machine inoperation.

The choice pointcontacts on each card, when it is in viewing position,overlie a resilient electrically insulating mask which is perforated ateach location at which a choice point contact may be present on thecard. Beneath the mask is a printed circuit platen which is connected toa selected choice point contact when the card over that contact ispressed by the student to indicate his choice. Depending on whether thechoice is correct, incorrect or only partly correct, the circuitcompleted causes operation of the fixed circuits on the machine to takeappropriate action to repeat the lesson, go forward to the next lesson,or branch to another card that is not necessarily the next in thesequence to carry out a teaching subroutine.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a teaching machine constructed inaccordance with the principles of this invention;

FIG. 2 is an illustration in cross sectional view of a portion of themachine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of one side of a teaching card constructed inaccordance with the principles of this invention;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the opposite side of the teaching card of FIG.3;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the surface of a platen which forms a portionof the machine of FIG.- 1;

, ever, in a third operating position;

FIG. is an illustration partially in block diagrammatic and partially inschematic form of a portion of a logic and control circuit for use inthe practice of this invention; and 7 FIG. 11 is an illustration of theremaining portion of the circuit of FIG. 10.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 1 a teachingmachine in accordance with the invention comprises a housing I havingaliftable cover 2 givingaccess to a supply or stack of teaching cardsthereunder. The cards are fed from the card supply one byone to aposition in front of the student where the illustrated portion of thecard is visible through a window 3. When the card is in the viewingposition the student may see the illustrated portion thereof and maytouch certain portions of the card in response to questions in carryingout the program of instructions. As part of the instruction the studenthears through headphones 4 connected by a jack 5 to the machine, oralternatively through a loud speaker 6, verbal instructions or otherappropriate sounds. An on-off switch 7 is provided for putting themachine in operation and a light 8 is illuminated when the machine isturned on. A further light 9 is provided to signal the student when themachine is waiting for him to make a response.

In FIG. 3 is shown the illustrated side of one of our teaching cards.The particular card shown is programmed for the teaching of. reading bythe phonics method and is concerned in particular with the sound of theletter U. A plurality of such cards are loaded into the machine andpresented one by one, each card having appropriate illustrations, andthe student responding to the program by touching certain words, symbolsor other graphic presentations in response to the visual stimulus on thefront side of the card as shown in FIG. 3 and audio stimulus which hehears through the headphones or the loud speaker. In FIG. 4 is shown thereverse side of this same teaching card. The two principal features ofthe back of this card are a pattern of lines and dots which areimprinted on the card with a conducting ink together with a strip ofmagnetizable material also imprinted or applied to the back of the cardon which can be recorded audio or sound messages. This card carries fourindependent sound tracks each having messages related to the visualmaterials printed on the face side of the card. The conducting lines onthe back of the card interconnect specific points on the card. Thesepoints fall into two groups. A first group of 45 points is related tothe view area of graphic illustrations imprinted on the face side of thecard. A second group of 35 points are related to the electronic logic ofthe teaching machine itself. The

pattern of lines determines the program of operations to be carried outfor that particular card.

Each point of the group of 45 points falls directly behind specificlocations or areas of the illustrated portion on the face side of thecard. The group of 45 points are further subdivided into three subgroups; a sub group at the top, another sub group inthe middle, and athird sub group at the bottom of thecard. These points are thereforearranged in a basic 5 by 9 array and are further sub-divided into 3groups each of 15 points in a 5 by 3 array.

For convenience of discussion we have labeled the top group G1 themiddle group C-2 and the bottom group C-3. In each sub-group the top rowis labeled 1 the middle row 2 and the bottom row 3 and the columnslabeled 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Thus the point C121 refers to a point in thetop group C1 the middle row thereof and the first column.

In the particular program shown on this card only 9 of the'total of 45points are used. These 9 points fall directly behind each of the 9letters or words which appear on the face side of the card. I

The four sound tracks on the back of the card will be referred to forconvenience as track 1, track 2, track 3 and track 4. On this particularcard, the four messages which are recorded on the back of the card areas follows: Track 1: Look at the top of this card. You see the capitalU, the small letter u, and a word with the letter u in it. Touch theword with the letter u in it. Track 2: Look at the middle of this card.You see the words Ben, Bud and Ted. Touch the word with the letter 14 init. Track 3: Look at the bottom of this card; hug, got, tag. Touch theword with the letter u in it. Track 4: Good! You touched the words withthe letter u in them. Now v we re ready for the next card.

-When this card with its illustration is fed out by the machine in frontof the student, track number 1 automatically plays. The student respondscorrectly by touching the word under. Referring to both FIGS. 3 and 4,which is arrangedin mirror image fashion, being on the back of the card,it will be noted that C121 falls directly behind the word "under. Whenthe student touches the word under it forms a signal connection fromcircuitry included in the base through point C121 to point 9 of thegroup of 35 points which are connected to the machine logic. In thiscase it causes track number 2 to play. The student on hearing themessage of track 2 responds by touching the word Bud on the middle ofthe page and the conducting line from point C223 to point 11 now causestrack 3 to play. on hearing the message of track 3, the student respondsby touching the word bug. The conducting line from point C325 to point17 causes track number 4 to play. It will further noted that all of theincorrect responses, that is, points C321, C232, C221, C225, C123 andC125 are interconnected and connect to points 11 and 35 of the controlgroup. correspondingly if the student touches the words got, tag, Ben orTed or the big U or little u which are incorrect responses this causesthe machine to go back to the beginning of the sequence starting withthe playing of track 1.

It can be seen that a very large number of patterns and programs can bedevised for this card system. Virtually any one of the 45 points orlocations behind an illustration can correspond to a right answer or awrong answer and can quite arbitrarily be made to cause any one of thefour sound tracks to be played. As will become obvious when the detailedelectronic logic is described, many ways of programming cards arepossible including having the sound tracks follow each other in anydesired sequence either automatically or in response to studentoperation of specified touch point locations.

Each time the machine feeds a card out in front of the student, the cardmoves over a plate or platen. A cross section view of this is shown inFIG. 2. The platen 12 is formed of an electrically insulating materialsuch as epoxy board and carries an array of electrical contact points,which may, for example, be brass rivets inserted into the board. Thecard 10, when in position is suspended or held over a compliantelectrically insulating pad 11, formed of a material such as rubber.This pad holds the card away from the platen 12. The compliant pad isperforated with an array of 45 holes which are located in register with45 electrical contact points 13 on platen 12 which align with the touchpoints on the card. Another set of platen contact points 14 are alignedwith the 35 control points on the card. When the card comes intoposition, a bar 15 with a compliant pad moves to press the card againstthe contacts 14 and at the same time to press the recorded surfacehaving the four sound tracks against four magnetic heads 16. The heads16 are translated back and forth beneath the card in order to sense therecordings on the four sound tracks.

When the student responds with his finger 17 by pressing on the card 10the surface depresses so that a connection is made between theconducting pattern on the under side of the card and a contact 13. Inthis way the students tactile response with his finger directlycompletes an electrical circuit to cause a programmed operation to takeplace. A plan view of the platen 12 is shown in FIG. 5. On the topsurface of the platen 12 are the conducting points 13 arranged in a 5 by9 array and the conducting points 14 individually designated L1 throughL35 which connect to the machine logic. A printed circuit pad C1 on thereverse side of the board 12 connects all of the conducting points 13 inthe top group and by a printed line connects to the control contact L12.Similarly the middle group of points 13 connects by a pad C12 to thecontrol point L16 and the bottom group connects by a pad C3 and aprinted line to the control point L20. Before proceeding with a detaileddescription of the logic and operation of the machine a discussion willbe given of the mechanism for handling and changing cards and of themechanism for translating the heads back and forth beneath the card toread the sound tracks.

In FIG. 7 there is shown a sectional view of the machine. A card 10 isshown in position and a pressure pad 15 holds the card both against thecontacts Ll direction. In this way the heads are moved back and forthagainst the under surface of the card to engage and register with audiotracks recorded on its under surface. The card 10, the platen l2 and thehead 16 are mounted and supported by a frame 28. This frame is pivotedat one end on a pivot and supported at the other end by an eccentricshaft 31. This eccentric shaft 31 is operated by a motor 32 which, as itrotates the eccentric shaft 31, causes that end of'the assembly to movevertically. In FIG. 7 this frame is shown in its upper or closedposition. In this position the heads are in engagement with the card andthe card is pushed against both the heads and the logic contacts by thepad 15. Also in this position the feed screw 29 is in engagement withthe half nut 19. When in the machine the card is supported by a pair ofrubber belts in friction engagement with the edge of the card and heldin engagement by a pinch roller 34. 7

Referring now to FIG. 8 the mechanism is shown in the act of removing acard from the working area of the machine. In performing this operationthe motor 32 is first operated to rotate the cam 31 so as to move theheads and control contacts and the card away from the pad 15 by loweringthat end of the mechanism. This releases the card for the changingoperation. Once the platen frame 28 is open and the card is released themain drive motor (not shown) can be energized again to cause the card 10to be fed out. This operation is performed as a result of the engagementof gears 35 and 36 which, in FIG. 7 were disengaged when the platenassembly was closed but when the platen assembly opens and moves downthese two gears come into mesh. The gear 35 is on a shaft which is alsodriven by the main drive motor. In order to remove a card the drivemotor runs in one direction and in turning in that direction causes thecard to move out and back into the card stack.

The program of cards is placed in a box 38 which is pivoted at one endon a pivot 39 and at the other end is supported by a link 40 whichpivots at one end on the main pivot 30 and on the other end by the mainpivot point 41. The pivot 30 is actually a rotating shaft which isassociated with the drive belts 33 which are transporting the card in.Accordingly, the operation of removing a card from the operatingposition causes this shaft to turn in a counterclockwise direction. Thelink 40 is connected to the shaft 30 through a friction clutcharrangement. Therefore when the shaft 30 turns in a counterclockwisedirection at the time the card is being removed from the operatingposition, the friction of the clutches causes the front end of the boxto move downward so that the card goes over the top of the front edge ofthe box to fall on top of the stack of cards in that box. As soon as thecard has been fed all the way out into the box, the drive motor reversesand a consequence of the reversal of the drive motor is that the frontedge of the box 38 is caused to lift up as shown in FIG. 9. The reversalof the drive motor causes the shaft 30 now to turn in a clockwisedirection so that transport belts 33 are moving to feed a card into thework station and the friction of the clutches on the arm 40 causes thefront edge of the box to rise.

At the back of the box 38 is a picker knife 42 which is a flat sheet ofmaterial slightly thinner than the thickness of one card. It is mountedin a manner such that it can move back and forth, being pulled back by aspring 43 and pulled forward by a cable 44 which passes from the pickerknife over a pulley 46 and thence to the frame of the machine. It willbe noted in FIG. 8 that when the front of the box 38 is in its lowerposition the cable is relaxed and the picker knife 42 is all the wayback. When the box 38 rises the cable 44 is tensioned to pull the pickerknife 42 forward. As the picker knife 42 moves forward it pushes theedge of the lowest card forward.

The front of the box 38 has a gate 45. The gate consists of a piece ofmetal which extends from the top almost to the bottom of the box suchthat a slit exists which is a little wider than one card thickness. Whenthe picker knife 42 moves forward and pushes the bottom card, this cardcan move underneath the gate 45 toward the working position of themachine. The nextto-bottom card however cannot pass through this gateand therefore remains in the box. As soon as the card 10, Le. the bottomcard, has been pushed forward sufficiently out of the box it runsbeneathpinch roller 34 and is frictionally engagedwith the belt 33 tocause it to continueto move forward out of the box and fully into theoperating position. When the card is fully in position its leading edgeruns into a final barrier 47 and the arrival of the leading edge of thecard at that barrier signals the machine that the card is fully inplace.

In summary, then, the operation of changing a card constitutes a firstoperation of the motor 32 to cause the platen assembly to move downwarddisengaging the feed screw from the head and engaging the gears 35 and36 to cause the card transport to operate. Operation of the main drivemotor then causes a card in the operating position first to be fed outover the top gate 45 into the box38 and then, on reversal of this motor,the lifting of the front edge of the box38, motion of the picker knifeand feeding of a card beneath the pinch roller 34 so that it is driveninto the workingrposition and against the barrier 47. Subsequentoperation of the motor 32 to operate the cam causes the assembly toreturn to the original position as shown in FIG. 7.

These operations are all controlled by the machine logic and through themedium of switches which detect the presence of the card at the barrierwhen it is in the operating position and the absence of the card frombeneath the pinch roller when it has gone and further switches to detectwhether the platen assembly is open or closed. Similar switches are usedto detect the location of the head assembly as it moves between its twoextreme positions which in our logic are referred to as the away"position and as the home position.

FIG. 10 is a combined logic and schematic diagram of the controlelectronics of the machine. All input signals to this logic diagram areon the left hand side and all output signals are on the right hand side.The machine uses a number of flip-flops combined with logical and and/orelements to perform the machine functions. The various states oroperations of the machine are established by setting or resetting thevarious flipflops which determine what machine functions are to beactivated. In FIG. 6 a typical such flip-flop is shown. Each flip-flopconsists of an OR element and an AND element built up out of so calledNAND or not-AND logical elements. Each flip-flop has one or mor e setinputs and a reset inputs and an output 0 and Q. A set input 20 in theform of a logical zero or zero volts will cause the input logical OR 21to produce a logic one output on line 22. This logic one also appears atthe output terminal Q labelled 23. The signal appears at the input tothe logical AND 24 which if its reset input 25 is a logical one allows alogic zero condition to be established on line 26. The presence of thislogic zero at the input to the OR 21 causes the two elements to lock upin a state such that the logic one output remains on the line' 23 and alogic zero appears on the output6 at terminal 27. If at some later timelogic zero is applied to the reset input 25'this causes the output ofelement 24, as appearing on line 26, to go to a logic 1 and if the setinput 20 to the element 21 is also a logic one,- a logic zero willappear on line 22 and output line 23 and the output 27 will go to alogical 1. Thus the element.2l and 24 wired in this configurationconstitute an electronic latch which can be set and reset at will. Thelogical symbolsused in this and other diagrams are according to militarystandard 8068.

The principal operating sequences of the machine are controlled by fiveAND gates 50, 51, 52, 53 and 54. The gate 50 which receives signals fromcontacts L13 and L35 of the platen gives a logic zero output at itsterminal 3 when both inputs l3 and 35 are logic one. Such an operationwas discussed earlier in connection with FIG. 4 when an incorrectresponse by the student to one of the wrong touch points caused signalsto be applied to the terminals 13 and 35 to cause the system to go backand start the sequence over again from track 1. Thus the function of thegate 50 is to set in motion an operation called repeat from track 1. Thegate 51 is used to cause the machine to play audio track number 2. Thistakes place when two logic one signals, one at L9 and the other at L21are applied to the input of the gate 51 to cause its terminal 6 toassume a'logic'zero output. Similarly the gate 52 receiving inputs fromL1 1 and Ll5 selects track 3 and the gate 53 with inputs from L17 andL23 selects track 4. When each of the input gates just described gives alogic zero output to set in motion a particular machine function it-setsa corresponding latch. Thus an output from the gate 50 sets the latch55, an output from the gate 51 sets the latch 56, an output from thegate 52 sets the latch 57, an output from the gate 53 sets the latch 58and an output from the gate 54 sets the latch 59.

Associated with the head carriage are three switches. One switch 104closes when the head is in one extreme position called home, a secondswitch 105 closes when the head is in the other extreme position calledaway, and a third switch 116 closes at the half way point calledhalf-way. When the home switch 104 closes it sends a logic zero signalto an input to the latch 60 to cause it to set in one direction. Whenthe away switch 105 closes it sends a logic signal to the other side ofthe latch 60 to set it in the other direction. Thus as the audio headassembly moves back and forth between its extreme positions the latch 60assumes its two stable states. When the heads arrive at the homeposition it sets up in one state and remains there until it arrives atthe away position. When the heads arrive at the away position it assumesthe other state and stays there until the heads return to the homeposition.

The logic zero signal from the home switch is also provided-at theinputs to the OR gate 62 so that when the home switch is closed theoutput line 6 of the OR gate 62 assumes a logical one. This home switchsignal is also applied to one input of the OR gate 61 as is the signalfrom the away switch. Thus the OR gate 61 gives a logical one output atits output terminal when either the home switch 104 or the away switch105 is closed. The signals from these two OR gates are used to operatefour NAND gates 63, 64, 65 and 66. The gate 63 has one input from thelatch 55 while its other input is from the OR gate 62. Thus if latch 55is set, and the home switch closes, the NAND gate 63 has both inputs atlogic one and gives a logic zero output at its terminal 11. In likemanner if the latch 56 is set since its output provides an input to oneterminal of the NAND gate 64 and its other input is from the OR gate 61,if either the home switch 104 or away switch 105 close, the NAND 64 willgive a logic zero out at its terminal 1 1. Similarly latch 57 isassociated with gate 65 and latch 58 with gate 66.

Each of the gates 63, 64, 65 and 66 are associated with correspondinglatches 67, 68, 69 and 70. When output signals are generated by any ofthese gates the corresponding latch 67, 68, 69 and 70 become set. Itwill also be noted that these latches are wired in such a way, that aninput to one of the latches on the set side is also applied to the resetside of the other three latches. As a consequence if any one of the fourlatches 67, 68, 69 or 70 become set, at the same time any of the otherlatches which may have been set become reset. The output signals fromthe gates 63, 64, 65 and 66, in addition to being used to set thelatches 67 through 70 also go to a logical OR 71 and through this ORthrough an AND gate 72 to a further latch 73. As a consequence any timeone of the four latches 67 through 70 become set the latch 73 alsobecomes set.

The five latches 67, 68, 69, 70 and 73 operate five relays namely K1through K5. The relay contacts K1 switch head one, that'is audio trackone, to the audio amplifier 112. Similarly K2 switches head two, K3 headthree and K4 head four. Thus the set state of any one of the latches 67through 70 selects and determines which audio track will play throughthe audio amplifier 112. The latch 73 operates the relay K5 from itsreset side, that is, the relay contacts of K3 will be closed-any timethe latch 73 is reset. If the latch 73 is set the relay contacts of K5are open. The relay contacts K5 short out all the head circuits so thatwhen the latch 73 is set the audio track will feed a signal to theamplifier 112 but when it is reset the audio signal is shorted out andthe audio output will be quiet.

In summary then, the latches 55, 56, 57 and 58 can be selected by thecard logic to cause the four audio tracks to play. The set state ofthese four latches is transferred through the gates 63, 64, 65 and 66when the head carriage is at its extreme position in order to set theoutput latches 67 through 70 in order to select an appropriate soundtrack head. It will be noted that the latch 60, which consists of theNAND elements 74 and 75 is set and reset by signals from the home switch104 and the away switch 105. A direct input from the home switch 104goes to one input of the NAND gate 74. A signal is also fed through alarge capacitor 125 from the home switch 104 input to an input of theNAND gate 75. In like manner a direct input from the away switch 105goes to the NAND gate 75 and a capacitively coupled signal to the NAND74. Since the inputs from the home switch 104 and the away switch 105are logic zeros, a consequence of this capacitively coupled circuit isthat when either switch closes both NAND gates 74 and give a logic oneoutput transient until the capacitor has become discharged. During theinterval when the output of both the NAND gates 74 and 75 are a logicone, both inputs to the gate 76 become logic one and consequently theoutput at its terminal 11, becomes a logic zero. This signal providesthe reset input to the latch 73. It can therefore be seen that when anyone of the latches 67 through 70 becomes set, the latch 73 becomes setat the same time. Subsequently when the head carriage gets to the otherextreme position that is either home or away, and the home switch 104 orthe away switch 105 closes the signal from the gate 76 resets the latch73.

Operation of the main drive motor Ml which moves the head carriage backand forth in playing the audio tracks is controlled by the latch 60 incombination with the latch 73. The two outputs from the latch 60 operatetwo relays K6 and K7. The contacts K6a and K7a of these relays switchthe direction controlling input to the bi-directional main drive motorM1. A third relay K8 controls the other input of power to this motor M1and is operated by a gate 77 which in turn receives a control input fromthe OR gate 78. The input terminal of the OR gate 78 receives a controlinput from an output of the latch 73. When the latch 73 is set, the gate77 will ordinarily actuate K8 close contacts K8a causing the motor torun. As soon as the head carriage arrives at the far end of the track,the latch 73 resets and the relay contacts K8a open.

The latch 59 is used to initiate a card changing cycle. This latchbecomes set either as a consequence of receiving a signal from the gate54 or because the start button has been depressed. When the latch 59 isset it delivers a logic one output to one input of the NAND gate 79.Another input to the NAND gate 79 comes from the latch 73 and this inputonly becomes alogic one when the latch 73 is reset. A third input to theNAND gate 79 comes from an input from the closed switch 81, which inputbecomes a logic one when the platen is in the closed position. Thus whena card is in the machine and the platen is closed and the machine isplaying a track and the latch 59 becomes set the gate 79 will only givea logic zero output when the latch 73 resets at the end of the audioplaying operation. At that time, however, this logic zero output causesthe latch 80 to set. Thus latch 80 in set state energizes relay K9 toclose contacts K9a of that relay and operate the platen motor M2. Theplaten motor M2 operates the cam rod in the mechanism to open the platenand in doing so it opens switch 81 to remove the closed input signal andcloses switch contact 82 when the platen has opened all the way, opensswitch 83 to disconnect the home switch 104 and away switch 105associated with the head transport mechanism and closes switch contact84 to connect in two further switches called in switch and out switch89. As previously stated the out switch 89 is associated with the pinchrollers and closes at the time the card leaves the operating station andis fed into the top of the stack of cards. The in switch 90 isassociated with the barrier and closes when a new card is in position.

it will be noted that a further output from the gate 79 is fed to theNAND gate 74 of the latch 60 to set it to the away state. It willfurther be noted that an output from the NAND gate 85 in the latch 80provides an inhibit input to the gate 77. Thus as long as the latch 80is set there will be no output from the gate 77 and the scan relaycontacts K8awill remain open. When the platen is fully open, however,the switch 82 closes to provided an input signal to the terminal 88which in turn operates the. gate 86 to send a logic zero from its outputterminal to one input terminal of NAND gate 85 to reset the latch 80. Atthe time the latch 80 resets, the inhibit on the gate 77 is removed andthe scan relay contacts K8a closes to cause the main drive motor M1 tooperate. Since the latch 60 was set to the away state at the time thelatch 80 was set, the main drive motor M1 operates in the away directionand feeds a card out of the working station and into the card stacks.When the card is gone, however, the out switch 89 closes and this causesthe latch 60 to change state and to reverse the drive motor Ml. When thedrive motor M1 reverses, the front of the card box rises and feeds a newcard into the working station. Please refer to FIGS. 7, 8 and 9.

At the time the switch 82 closesto send an open signal to the terminal88, the gate 91 sets the latch 87 which in turn resets the latch 59. TheNAND gate 92 receives an input from the terminal 88 when the platen isopen. It receives a further input from the output of the OR gate 62,which becomes a logic one when the in switch 90 closes and a third inputfrom the set state of the latch 87. As a consequence when the new cardis finally in position against the barrier and a signal is received fromthe switch 90, the gate 92 produces a logic zero output which sets againthe latch 80. This causes the platen relay contacts K9a to close tooperate the platen motor M2 to close the platen on the new card. Whenthe platen is closed the gate 93 having inputs from the latch 87 and theclosed input, which becomes asserted when the switch 81 closes,generates a logic zero output which resets the latch 80 thus stoppingthe platen motor M2.

The outputs from latches 67 through 70 are connected to the controlpoints L10, L14, L18, L22, L24 and L26 on the platen. These are used inprogramming the sequence of operations on the card itself. It will benoted that all the basic operations of the system are carried out byinputs to the gates 50, 51, 52, 53 and 54. Each of these gates is a twoinput logical NAND gate, that is, they provide a zero output only whenall of their inputs receive a logical one. Every operation is set inmotion, therefore, by two concurrent conditions. These conditions maytypically be the activation of a particular touch point as programmed onthe card together with a specified state of the machine, for example, aparticular track being active or the heads being in a particularposition, such as in the home or away position.

It will be noted that the gate 92 which sets the'latch 80 for the secondtime to close the platen, at the same time sends a signal to one inputterminal OR gate 94 of the latch 55. Thus at the end of the cardchanging the latch 55 is set so that the machine automatically playstrack number one immediately after a new card comes into position. Inthe event that the heads are not in the home position when a new cardcomes in, the main drive motor Ml will continue to run until the headsdo get to this position. No transfer can take place through the gate 63,however, until the heads do arrive home. As a consequence the latch 73does not become set until the heads are in a position to play track one.When the heads do come to that position the transfer through gate 63takes place, the latches 67 and 73 set up and head one is switched intothe audio amplifier. As track 1 plays and the heads move from the hometo the away position the set state of latch 73 is used in conjunctionwith the half-way switch 116 to provide a signal input clear to terminal95 which will reset the latch 55 andindeed any other one of latches 56,57 or 58 or 87 which might be setalt will be further noted that the ORgate 78, which operates the gate 77 and as a consequence the relay K8which runs the drive motor Ml, receives inputs from the latch 73, thelatch 55, the latch 59 and the latch 82. If any one of these latches areset, the heads continue to move until the program logic is satisfied.

Having discussed the mechanical and logicaldesign of the apparatus andits operation under one typical set of conditions, its operation underother conditions in response to'differently programmed cards will beapparent to those skilled in the art. It will be evident that theapparatus described has considerable flexibility in programming and inthe ability to present various learning situations in a manner requiringrather elementary student response to progress through teaching materialpresented, at the students own pace and in a manner determined by thenature of his response.

In addition the construction of the machine is such that it may readilybe operated with additional peripheral equipment from the contact pointson the platen which are not utilized in the internal programming. Suchperipheral equipment may include for example, counters for keeping ascore of correctand incorrect answers or additional audio visualteaching aids.

While the invention has been described in terms of teaching cards withvisual areas, it will be understood that the invention may be embodiedin machines which use cards without visually displayed information.Cards, for example, in which the information is carried as braille andwhere the student senses the information by touch and manually depressesthe choice area may be used.

What is claimed is:

l. A teaching machine comprising n a set of teaching cards eachincluding directly sensible information on one surface thereof,

means for individually inserting said cards into sensing position,

tactile response means positioned with respect to a card in said sensingposition such that depressing specific portions of the sensibleinformation on said card results in said machine producing a furthersensible response, and

wherein said card includes thereon a series of audio tracks and whereinthe machine includes transducer means actuable to convert said audiotracks into audible signals, said tactile response means producingactuating signals to said transducer determining which of said audiotracks are used to produce the audible signals.

2. A teaching machine in accordance with "claim 1 wherein saidtransducer means includes a plurality of sensing heads positioned tounderlie specific ones of said audio tracks when one of said cards is inthe sensing position and bi-directional driving means for driving saidsensing heads along the audio tracks in either direction.

3. A teaching machine in accordance with claim 1 wherein said means forindividually inserting said cards into a sensing position comprises,

a tray for holding a vertical stack of said teaching cards,

a transport mechanism for inserting the bottom one from said stack intosaid sensing position upon receipt of an actuating signal of a firsttype and for removing a card from said sensing position and placing iton the top of said stack in response to an actuating signal of a secondtype, said tray being pivoted such that, upon receipt of an actuatingsignal of said second type, the end of said tray nearest to said sensingposition is vertically displaced downwardly to enable the card beingreturned from said sensing position to be placed on top of said stack. I

4. A teaching machine in accordance with claim 1 wherein said teachingcard is held in said sensing position in a vertically movable frame,said vertically movable frame having a first, upper position in whichsaid transducer means are brought into operative contact with said audiotracks and said tactile response means are brought into operativecontact with a surface of said teaching cards and a second, lowerposition which allows free movement of selected ones of said teachingcards from said set into the said sensing position and from said sensingposition into said set.

5. A teaching machine comprising a set of flexible cards carrying visualinformation on one surface thereof,

a first set of spaced electrical contacts on the opposite surfacethereof underlying said visual information,

a plurality of audio tracks on one of said surfaces,

and

a second set of electrical contacts selectively connected electricallyto specific ones of said first set,

means for storing a plurality of said cards and for transporting saidcards in an ordered sequence one at a time to a viewing position,

audio transducing means positioned to operatively engage said audiotracks when a card is in the viewing position circuit means within saidmachine including electrical contacts underlying said viewing positionsuch that manual depression of specific portions of the visualinformation carrying areas of said card in viewing position providescircuit closures to control the sequencing of selection of audio tracksto be converted to audible signals and to control the removal from andinsertion into the viewing position of said cards.

6. A teaching card comprising,

a sheet of flexible material,

a set of reproducible audio tracks recorded on said sheet in a firstregion thereof,

a set of spaced electrical contacts printed on a second region of saidsheet, a visual choice field graphically divided into a set of choiceregions printed on a first side of said sheet in a third region thereof,I

a set of choice point contacts printed on a second side of said sheetopposite said first side, each choice point contact being locatedopposite a different one of saidchoice regions, and,

a set of conductors printed onsaid sheet and interconnecting said choicepoint contacts and a set of said spaced electrical contacts to form acard carried teaching machine programming and control circuit.

7. A teaching machine comprising,

means for moving a stack of teaching cards sequentially into and out ofposition at a viewing station,

programmable audio reproducing means for reproducing audible informationrecorded on said cards, said programmable reproducing means comprising afirst set of machine contacts adapted to register with a first portionof a card at said viewing station and a second spaced set of contactpoints forming an array positioned to register with a second portion ofa card at said viewing station, set of flexible teaching cards adaptedto be mounted on said machine for manipulation thereby, each card havingaudio information recorded thereon and comprising on one side a visualchoice field inscribed on and occupying an area adapted to overly saidsecond portion and divided into a plurality of choice regions, and onthe opposite side of the card, a set of choice point contacts each in adifferent one of said choice regions and adapted to engage a differentone of the contact points in said array,

resilient insulating mask overlying said array for resiliently spacing ateaching card at said viewing position from said array,

apertures formed in said mask exposing the contact points in said array,whereby selecting a choice point region on a card in viewing position bymanually depressing the selected region will connect a choice pointcontact on said card opposite the selected choice point region to amating contact point in said array,

a second set of spaced terminal contacts formed on each card in positionto engage said first set of machine contacts, and

electrical connections on each card between the choice point contactsand selected ones of said set of terminal contacts to form a completecard determined manually sequenced program for the teaching machine whena card is in said viewing position.

8. A teaching machine in accordance'with claim 7 wherein said cardincludes a number of discrete audio tracks and wherein said machineincludes audio transducer means for sensing the signals on said tracksand converting said signals to audible signals, the sequence of playingof said audio tracks being controlled by said card determined manuallysequenced program.

9. A teaching machine in accordance with claim 8 wherein manualdepression of selected choice regions on said card connecting particularones of said choice point contacts to particular ones of the contacts insaid array, acts to operate a motor driving said audio transducer meansto pass along said discrete audio tracks, the particular contactsconnected determining which track is converted to audible signals.

10. A teaching machine in accordance with claim 9 and including aresponse signal light, said light being lit only when said audio meanshas completed its pass along said tracks thereby indicating that saidmachine is in condition for another manual selection.

1 l. A card for the presentation of information comprising a card memberhaving, on a first side a first generalized area in which there isinscribed a visual choice field graphically divided into a setof choiceregions, a set of choice point contacts formed on said card memberopposite said first side, each opposite a different choice regionbearing visual information, at least one reproducible sound trackdisposed in a second generalized area on said card and having audioinformation recorded on said track related to the visual information insaid first generalized area, printed circuits disposed in a thirdgeneralized area on said card, and connections between said choice pointcontacts and said printed circuits defining a logical relationshipbetween said visual information and said reproducible audio information.

12. The card of claim 11 wherein said choice field is subdivided into arectangular grid array of sub-areas respectively bearing differentvisual information.

13. A teaching machine comprising,

sound reproducing means operable in a set of reproducing modes toproduce for each mode a specific audible message,

an electrically conducting platen,

a first set of spaced electrical contacts,

means controlled by a predetermined set of electrical connectionsbetween said platen and ones of said first contacts for activating saidsound reproducing means in particular ones of its several modes,

a resilient mask on said platen formed with apertures exposing a spacedset of points on said platen, and a set of flexible teaching cards eachinscribed on one side with a visible choice field graphically dividedinto a set of choice regions and formed on the other side with choicepoint contacts each adapted to engage said platen at a different pointwhen the card is placed on the platen and the associated choice regionis depressed,

said card having a plurality of audio tracks on one of said surfaceshaving audio messages to be reproduced by said sound reproducing means,

a second set of spaced contacts on said card adapted to engage saidfirst set of contacts, and printed circuit connections on each cardbetween said choice print contacts and said second set of contacts toform a student actuated program for the teaching machine when the cardis placed on the platen.

14. A teaching machine for use with a set of flexible teaching cardshaving on one surface visible choice fields divided into a set of choiceregions and on the opposite surface a set of electrical contacts, saidcard also having audible information recorded on one of said surfaces,said machine comprising,

means for moving individual ones of said set of said teaching cardssequentially into and out of position at a viewin station programmab ereproducing means comprising a first set of electrical contactspositioned to register with a first portion of a card at said viewingstation and a second spaced set of electrical contacts forming an arraypositioned to register with a second portion of a card at said viewingstation and an audio read out element positioned to be in operativecontact with the audible information recorded on.

said teaching cards when said cards are in position at said viewingstation.

15. A machine in accordance with claim 14 and including circuit meansresponsive to the closure of contact points from said second set ofspaced contacts and electrical contacts on a card in said viewingposition to control the programmable audio reproducing means.

1. A teaching machine comprising a set of teaching cards each includingdirectly sensible information on one surface thereof, means forindividually inserting said cards into sensing position, tactileresponse means positioned with respect to a card in said sensingposition such that depressing specific portions of the sensibleinformation on said card results in said machine producing a furthersensible response, and wherein said card includes thereon a series ofaudio tracks and wherein the machine includes transducer means actuableto convert said audio tracks into audible signals, said tactile responsemeans producing actuating signals to said transducer determining whichof said audio tracks are used to produce the audible signals.
 2. Ateaching machine in accordance with claim 1 wherein said transducermeans includes a plurality of sensing heads positioned to underliespecific ones of said audio tracks when one of said cards is in thesensing position and bi-directional driving means for driving saidsensing heads along the audio tracks in either direction.
 3. A teachingmachine in accordance with claim 1 wherein said means for individuallyinserting said cards into a sensing position comprises, a tray forholding a vertical stack of said teaching cards, a transport mechanismfor inserting the bottom one from said stack into said sensing positionupon receipt of an actuating signal of a first type and for removing acard from said sensing position and placing it on the top of said stackin response to an actuating signal of a second type, said tray beingpivoted such that, upon receipt of an actuating signal of said secondtype, the end of said tray nearest to said sensing position isvertically displaced downwardly to enable the card being returned fromsaid sensing position to be placed on top of said stack.
 4. A teachingmachine in accordance with claim 1 wherein said teaching card is held insaid sensing position in a vertically movable frame, said verticallymovable frame having a first, upper position in which said transducermeans are brought into operative contact with said audio tracks and saidtactile response means are brought into operative contact with a surfaceof said teaching cards and a second, lower position which allows freemovement of selected ones of said teaching cards from said set into thesaid sensing position and from said sensing position into said set.
 5. Ateaching machine comprising a set of flexible cards carrying visualinformation on one surface thereof, a first set of spaced electricalcontacts on the opposite surface thereof underlying said visualinformation, a plurality of audio tracks on one of said surfaces, and asecond set of electrical contacts selectively connected electrically tospecific ones of said first set, means for storing a plurality of saidcards and for transporting said cards in an ordered sequence one at atime to a viewing position, audio transducing means positioned tooperatively engage said audio tracks when a card is in the viewingposition circuit means within said machine including electrical contactsunderlying said viewing position such that manual depression of specificportions of the visual information carrying areas of said card inviewing position provides circuit closures to control the sequencing ofselection of audio tracks to be converted to audible signals and tocontrol the removal from and insertion into the viewing position of saidcards.
 6. A teaching card comprising, a sheet of flexible material, aset of reproducible audio tracks recorded on said sheet in a firstregion thereof, a set of spaced electrical contacts printed on a secondregion of said sheet, a visual choice field graphically divided into aset of choice regions printed on a first side of said sheet in a thirdregion thereof, a set of choice point contacts printed on a second sideof said sheet opposite said first side, each choice point contact beinglocated opposite a different one of said choice regions, and, a set ofconductors printed on said sheet and interconnecting said choice pointcontacts and a set of said spaced electrical contacts to form a cardcarried teaching machine programming and control circuit.
 7. A teachingmachine comprising, means for moving a stack of teaching cardssequentially into and out of position at a viewing station, programmableaudio reproducing means for reproducing audible information recorded onsaid cards, said programmable reproducing means comprising a first setof machine contacts adapted to register with a first portion of a cardat said viewing station and a second spaced set of contact pointsforming an array positioned to register with a second portion of a cardat said viewing station, a set of flexible teaching cards adapted to bemounted on said machine for manipulation thereby, each card having audioinformation recorded thereon and comprising on one side a visual choicefield inscribed on and occupying an area adapted to overly said secondportion and divided into a plurality of choice regions, and on theopposite side of the card, a set of choice point contacts each in adifferent one of said choice regions and adapted to engage a differentone of the contact points in said array, a resilient insulating maskoverlying said array for resiliently spacing a teaching card at saidviewing position from said array, apertures formed in said mask exposingthe contact points in said array, whereby selecting a choice pointregion on a card in viewing position by manually depressing the selectedregion will connect a choice point contact on said card opposite theselected choice point region to a mating contact point in said array, asecond set of spaced terminal contacts formed on each card in positionto engage said first set of machine contacts, and electrical connectionson each card between the choice point contacts and selected ones of saidset of terminal contacts to form a complete card determined manuallysequenced program for the teaching machine when a card is in saidviewing position.
 8. A teaching machine in accordance with claim 7wherein said card includes a number of discrete audio tracks and whereinsaid machine includes audio transducer means for sensing the signals onsaid tracks and converting said signals to audible signals, the sequenceof playing of said audio tracks being controlled by said card determinedmanually sequenced program.
 9. A teaching machine in accordance withclaim 8 wherein manual depression of selected choice regions on saidcard connecting particular ones of said choice point contacts toparticular ones of the contacts in said array, acts to operate a motordriving said audio transducer means to pass along said discrete audiotracks, the particular contacts connected determining which track isconverted to audible signals.
 10. A teaching machine in accordance withclaim 9 and including a response signal light, said light being lit onlywhen said audio means has completed its pass along said tracks therebyindicating that said machine is in condition for another manualselection.
 11. A card for the presentation of information comprising acard member having, on a first side a first generalized area in whichthere is inscribed a visual choice field graphically divided into a setof choice regions, a set of choice point contacts formed on said cardmember opposite said first side, each opposite a different choice regionbearing visual information, at least one reproducible sound trackdisposed in a second generalized area on said card and having audioinformation recorded on said track related to the visual information insaid first generalized area, printed circuits disposed in a thirdgeneralized area on said card, and connections between said choice pointcontacts and said printed circuits defining a logical relationshipbetween said visual information and said reproducible audio information.12. The card of claim 11 wherein said choice field is subdivided into arectangular grid array of sub-areas respectively bearing differentvisual information.
 13. A teaching machine comprising, sound reproducingmeans operable in a set of reproducing modes to produce for each mode aspecific audible message, an electrically conducting platen, a first setof spaced electrical contacts, means controlled by a predetermined setof electrical connections between said platen and ones of said firstcontacts for activating said sound reproducing means in particular onesof its several modes, a resilient mask on said platen formed withapertures exposing a spaced set of points on said platen, and a set offlexible teaching cards each inscribed on one side with a visible choicefield graphically divided into a set of choice regions and formed on theother side with choice point contacts each adapted to engage said platenat a different point when the card is placed on the platen and theassociated choice region is depressed, said card having a plurality ofaudio tracks on one of said surfaces having audio messages to bereproduced by said sound reproducing means, a second set of spacedcontacts on said card adapted to engage said first set of contacts, andprinted circuit connections on each card between said choice printcontacts and said second set of contacts to form a student actuatedprogram for the teaching machine when the card is placed on the platen.14. A teaching machine for use with a set of flexible teaching cardshaving on one surface visible choice fields divided into a set of choiceregions and on thE opposite surface a set of electrical contacts, saidcard also having audible information recorded on one of said surfaces,said machine comprising, means for moving individual ones of said set ofsaid teaching cards sequentially into and out of position at a viewingstation, programmable reproducing means comprising a first set ofelectrical contacts positioned to register with a first portion of acard at said viewing station and a second spaced set of electricalcontacts forming an array positioned to register with a second portionof a card at said viewing station and an audio read out elementpositioned to be in operative contact with the audible informationrecorded on said teaching cards when said cards are in position at saidviewing station.
 15. A machine in accordance with claim 14 and includingcircuit means responsive to the closure of contact points from saidsecond set of spaced contacts and electrical contacts on a card in saidviewing position to control the programmable audio reproducing means.